The Civil War began April 12, 1861, with the southern, Confederate forces firing upon the Union-held Fort Sumter in South Carolina.  Five days later, Virginia seceded from the Union.   Naturally there were numerous Southern sympathizers in Stafford and many formed into units to defend Virginia.  By the end of the war, around 1,000 Stafford men, or 41%, left their homes, leaving their families to fend for themselves.   The picture shown here is of Lt. Hugh Adie, Jr.  He was a Staffordian who, nine days after the start of the war, enlisted in the Confederacy as a sergeant in Company “A,” 9th Virginia Cavalry, the Stafford Rangers. After the war he returned to Stafford and later served as sheriff of the county.